Next Xbox Won’t Feature A Disc Drive, Launching Next Year

MCV is reporting that the next Xbox console won’t come equipped with a disc drive, and will launch sometime next year. If true then the next Xbox will be the worlds first console to forgo a disc drive in favour of downloadable games. This is bad news for people without an internet connection.

The briefings have been issued under what MCV’s source describes as “the strictest NDA” they have ever encountered.

Although the console will not include a disc drive, it will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage, although it is not known whether this will be proprietary or a more standard format such as SD.

Furthermore, a 2013 launch date for the hardware has been confirmed. What is less clear, however, is the intended timing of Microsoft’s announcement.

I think the biggest effect this will have is on people with slow internet connections, rather than no connection. Buying a game and then waiting a day (or even more) is annoying. And people with small download quotas (or the mobile Internet dongles) will be frustrated as I'm sure these games will take up plenty of space.

And since games will be stored on the internal HDD, how much more space will Microsoft have to cram in?